Content authoring tools are used to create and edit content files. There are various types of content authoring tools to edit various types of content files. For example, a document authoring tool such as WORD from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. is used to edit document content files; a presentation authoring tool such as POWERPOINT® also from Microsoft Corporation is used to edit presentation content files; and a spreadsheet authoring tool such as EXCEL® also from Microsoft Corporation is used to edit spreadsheet content files. The above are, of course, just examples and many other types of content authoring tools are used to edit other content file types as well.
Authoring content files often requires finding information and content from various other sources. For example, a user authoring a document content file may need to conduct multiple web searches to look up information to include in the document. Similarly, a user authoring a document content file or another type of content file may search an image repository for an image to include in the content file. Switching to, for example, a web browser to conduct a search may interrupt the user's progress on the content file, distract the user, and slow down the authoring process.
Additionally, more and more users are authoring content files from mobile devices, such as smartphones, that may have smaller screens where it may not be possible or practical to view a web browser simultaneously with the content authoring tool. Switching to a web browser on a mobile device may be particularly distracting to the user's concentration. Further, copying-and-pasting between a web browser and a content authoring tool is often challenging on a mobile device.